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AT&T Says Malware Secretly Unlocked Hundreds of Thousands of Phones

Posted by Soulskill on from the for-tenuous-definitions-of-the-word-malware dept.

alphadogg writes: AT&T said three of its employees secretly installed software on its network so a cellphone unlocking service could surreptitiously funnel hundreds of thousands of requests to its servers to remove software locks on phones. The locks prevent phones from being used on competing networks and have been an important tool used by cellular carriers to prevent customers from jumping ship.

29 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. Doesn't sound like malware to me. by aussersterne · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just sayin.

    Or at least, stretches the definition of "malware" to the breaking point.

    --
    STOP . AMERICA . NOW
    1. Re:Doesn't sound like malware to me. by jbmartin6 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Malware" is a matter of perspective. From this perspective of the AT&T lock mafia, this is malware.

      --
      This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
    2. Re:Doesn't sound like malware to me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Sounds more like what might be termed "beneware" rather than "malware".

    3. Re:Doesn't sound like malware to me. by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 2

      Depends on which side of the desk you are on. There are some "software" developers that would consider antivirus malware.

      lets see if it looks like malware
      extorts me to buy the next better version, - so adware at the least
      eats ram
      eats proccesor
      hides itself in installers for other programs,
      hard to remove and removing can break the host system when doing so
      looks like malware to me.

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
    4. Re:Doesn't sound like malware to me. by jonnythan · · Score: 2

      It's malware that was installed on the company's servers. It's for a "good" purpose, but it's malware just like the malware installed in Office Space to funnel fractions of pennies off of transactions.

    5. Re:Doesn't sound like malware to me. by aussersterne · · Score: 4, Informative

      I guess I tie the idea of "malware" to two concepts:

      1) Mal, as in harmful to the user.
      2) Ware, as in software.

      To me, "malware" as a concept is basically about end users. It is software that is installed by endusers that does something contrary to what they expect, possibly without their knowledge, that is harmful to them. Malware is inherently deceptive, and the method of its deception is posing as something else. It is directed from bad actors toward strangers that these actors wish to exploit. It is a numbers game, a volume game.

      This was not installed by end users, it did not pose as something else, and the harm was directed at an organization by individuals within the organization. It was not distributed widely, but was a single instance. I'd call this a "hack" or a "sabotage" or an "embezzlement" of some kind before I'd call it malware. Maybe a new term is needed.

      But it seems a big jump from the widespread distribution of a Windows wizard to millions of hapless end users all the way to the willful and direct modification of company equipment by employees for gain.

      --
      STOP . AMERICA . NOW
    6. Re:Doesn't sound like malware to me. by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 2

      I guess I tie the idea of "malware" to two concepts:
      1) Mal, as in harmful to the user.
      2) Ware, as in software.

      You're using the wrong interpretation. "Mal" is a short form of the German "Einmal", sometimes. "Ware" is goods or commodities or a product. So AT&T's service is "sometimes product", i.e. you pay for their phone service and sometimes the product is delivered.

  2. Good guy teleco emplyees... by wardrich86 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If only the idea of a carrier-locked phone could be made illegal... It would put more pressure on the companies to actually come up with decent pricing and plans to secure their customers!

    1. Re:Good guy teleco emplyees... by sexconker · · Score: 3, Informative

      In the US, carriers are now required by the FCC to unlock a phone on request, if the phone is not still on a subsidy contract.
      It's been like this for about 2 years now.

    2. Re:Good guy teleco emplyees... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In the US, carriers are now required by the FCC to unlock a phone on request, if the phone is not still on a subsidy contract.
      It's been like this for about 2 years now.

      Yeah, have fun going through that "request" with AT&T. It is damn near impossible to get them to unlock a phone.

    3. Re:Good guy teleco emplyees... by wardrich86 · · Score: 2

      All you have to do with ATT is get hit with their "malware"

    4. Re:Good guy teleco emplyees... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      What? I've done this with AT&T several times. You go to their website, enter your phone information (and it includes details on how to get it), and it sends you an email with exactly what to type on your phone to unlock it. The whole process only takes a few minutes.

    5. Re:Good guy teleco emplyees... by Scoth · · Score: 4, Informative

      This, pretty much. I went round and round with AT&T trying to get an off-contract iPhone 4 unlocked for over a year before I ended up trading it in for double-credit on a iPhone 6 for my wife for far more than it would have sold for on eBay or the like even unlocked. They just kept declining it with no explanation, and the customer service reps were no help.

    6. Re:Good guy teleco emplyees... by mrchaotica · · Score: 2

      Decent plans exist for those that go seeking them. Verizon loyalty is only $60 a month for 2gb of data and all the other goodies.

      That's a horrible rip-off. I pay half that much for two and a half times as much data with T-Mobile.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    7. Re:Good guy teleco emplyees... by dbraden · · Score: 4, Informative

      I had at&t unlock my iphone a few months ago and it couldn't have been simpler. I did it from their web site with a very simple form and it was unlocked within 2 days.

      Maybe I was just lucky, I don't know, I'm just a sample of one. I have no love for AT&T, but at least that worked well for me.

    8. Re: Good guy teleco emplyees... by Adriax · · Score: 2

      Went from verizon to straight talk for 2 phones. The cost difference paid for both phones in 5 months.
      I don't mind dropping $150 a phone for decent handsets when I'll end up saving $1140 over a 2 year verizon family plan.

      --
      I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
    9. Re:Good guy teleco emplyees... by gaiageek · · Score: 4, Informative

      I have a dual-SIM phone with one SIM on T-Mobile's network, the other on AT&T's (both are MVNOs). My experience has been that T-Mobile has better overall coverage in the areas they cover -- and by that I mean actually getting 3 or 4 bars on T-Mobile while indoors and getting 0 or 1 bars on AT&T (obviously in the exact same location since it's in the exact same phone).

      I think it's pretty well known that T-Mobile is not the carrier of choice if you're looking for extensive rural coverage. If you need that, my impression is that Verizon is the way to go. But if you're in an urban area 99% of the time, T-Mobile is amazing given their prices and their perks, i.e. free unlimited data and text when traveling overseas. (I think most people don't realize just how unprecedented it is to have unlimited data when roaming abroad, and to date I know of no other carrier in the WORLD who offers that.)

      --
      www.gaiageek.com
    10. Re:Good guy teleco emplyees... by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes T-Mobile coverage is worse, but even at 1/4 the coverage, that only translates to about 2 times a year on average where I don't have service when someone with ATT or Verizon does.

      I am willing to save hundreds of dollars a year if the only downside is being minimally inconvenienced. The yearly savings for me is more than the cost of a new phone (~$720).

    11. Re:Good guy teleco emplyees... by Obfuscant · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I am willing to save hundreds of dollars a year if the only downside is being minimally inconvenienced. The yearly savings for me is more than the cost of a new phone (~$720).

      What convinced me the other carriers are crooks is how they advertise the prices for their plans and then tack on another $20 to actually use a phone with those plans. Huh? $60/month for 12Gb, but actually using a phone to get to that data adds $20/month? That's, I think, Verizon's current advertising for their "one plan" that actually four different plans with different amounts of data.

      I almost signed up with AT&T at what I thought would be a good rate, and then was told "and add $40 if you want to use a phone on that plan". I told the guy I already had a phone, I didn't need a new one, and he told me it wasn't to GET a phone, it was to USE my own phone.

      That's like selling a car for $100, but add on another $20,000 if you want it to actually be able to move.

    12. Re:Good guy teleco emplyees... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Honestly bet those customer service reps have the instructions available to help with unlocking a phone but instead claim ignorance when asked because it usually takes time to explain over the phone to someone not already somewhat technically adept.

      They do this to avoid higher average handling time metrics so they dont get churned out of the call center.

      setting the system up like this is a brilliant means around the requirements of the FCC if this is malice rather than just accidental.

  3. I wish my phone had been hit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was out of contract over a year ago, but I'm still fighting to get mine unlocked.

    1. Re:I wish my phone had been hit! by Xenx · · Score: 2

      Unless you bought the nexus device through a carrier, like AT&T.

    2. Re:I wish my phone had been hit! by Karlt1 · · Score: 2

      http://www.verizonwireless.com...

      http://www.att.com/cellphones/...

      http://shop.sprint.com/mysprin...

  4. Re:If AT&T wouldn't refuse... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Just go in a physical store and refuse to leave until they agree to do it. I've gotten five iPhones that my family has owned unlocked by doing that. They'll tell you that you have to call 611 to get that done, but keep fighting.

  5. We need an antonym for malware by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2

    The practice of AT&T and other carriers to force people who have completed the contract and paid off all the subsidies they got when they signed on is malafide. They make people jump through hoops to use something they have bought and paid for. This software that unlocked the phones is reversing the bad action by the carriers. This software is bona fide. So we need to coin a word for software that is the antonym of malware, May be bonaware or goodware or niceware. Or Ghandhiware because this software is a freedom fighter.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    1. Re:We need an antonym for malware by bistromath007 · · Score: 2

      Gandhi was sort of the opposite of a freedom fighter, not sure you knew that.

  6. Re:Freedom of choice by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's sad that i have more freedom of choice in countries far less "democratic" and "liberal" than USA, than i do in USA, in terms of technology and telecommunications.

    So true. I travel to Cambodia & Vietnam once or twice a year. In Cambodia or Vietnam you can literally walk into any phone store, buy literally any phone, then walk outside to a SIM-chip kiosk (they're every where, staffed by lovely young ladies) and buy a SIM card. Stick it in your phone and *bam*, you're on the air. None of this shit about carriers or contracts or networks or compatibility or any of that stuff- any phone with any SIM works everywhere in the entire country.

    The result is that carriers compete to offer the lowest prices with the most features. And it works- $10 to $20 a month gets you service with all the stuff the highest-cost plans here in the US have.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  7. Re:So, heroes? by rogoshen1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    was thinking more like 'Schindler's List'

  8. Phone locking it's stupid by hyperar · · Score: 2

    If i have a contract, i can't cancel it before the contract allows me to without a penalty, so, why do you lock my phone?, i'd still be under the obligation of paying for the service?. Phone network locking shouldn't be a thing, it's beyond stupid.